Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 2.4% Higher

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) traded up 2.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $498.76 and last traded at $493.22. 4,797,858 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 16,989,535 shares. The stock had previously closed at $481.73.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on META. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $520.28.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.2 %

The business’s 50-day moving average is $494.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $401.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.10, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,391,935 shares of company stock worth $666,288,408. 14.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,960,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104,550 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after acquiring an additional 5,001,647 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,054,513 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,469,906,000 after buying an additional 927,491 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,890,950,000 after buying an additional 1,184,978 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,296,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,719 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.